Arts Council kicks off annual Arts Festival with Literary Night

Local poet Heather MacDonald shared some of her work with the crowd at the Literary Night event.

Local writers stepped up to the podium at the Wainwright Public Library on Thursday, February 23, to share their work with the community during the Wainwright Arts Council’s 11th annual Literary Night. The event helped kick off this year’s Arts Festival and offered a platform for local writers to share original non-fiction or fiction stories and poems.

Event organizer and Arts Council member Linda White says she’s always happy to have writers come out and participate in the event, and she’s glad to have the opportunity to share a different style of art with the community.

“Not everybody can paint a picture or create things visually, but you can create a picture with a poem, so it’s another kind of art, the literary arts,” said White.

“No one paints, draws, creates a sculpture, or creates a poem without the idea of communicating and sharing, so it’s very important to have an opportunity like this.”

White says that sharing something as personal as a piece of original writing can be intimidating, and she was impressed by the number of writers who came out and were willing to share their work.

“It’s not an easy thing to do, so it’s kind of admirable to see the number of people that will come out and share something,” said White.

“It’s an intimate little occasion. It’s always eclectic, so you never know what you’re actually going to hear. We had a lot of poetry and non-fiction with some humour, and kind of everything in between.”